AUTOFLOWER ANIMATION

This design is to show the process of creating an environment using Autodesk 3ds Max. This environment supports a workshop in which a watchmaker builds his automata.

The watchmaker has access to all the modern technology, including Autodesk 3ds Max, which he uses on his personal computer to create the designs he uses for building consumer orientated clockwork/battery operated curios.

His latest design is called ‘Autoflower’, an electromechanical ornament, the parts of which he manufactures and builds at his desk.

Several ideas were considered for this animation project. The initial idea was to produce on object built from Lego bricks but the duration of the animation would exceed the maximum allotted time limit.

The only restriction on subject matter for me would be the human and animal forms because this is a field of animation I am not yet conversant with. Then I had the idea of a living thing that was neither human nor animal; a plant.

There is some simplicity in the movement of plants and I thought that an animation based on a plant would be an interesting challenge.

The initial storyboard planning proved to be complicated. There was so much detail I would like to include but due to the animation duration restrictions it needed to be less complicated than initially planned. Although the storyboard is correct in subject matter it was not possible to follow precisely as pictured.

During the construction of the ‘Autoflower’ it was suggested by the lecturer that it would be more interesting if the animation contained a human element, so the human eyeball was included. It was decided that a stationary eye was not adequate for an animation, it needed to be mobile. If the observer looks closely at the animation he/she will notice that the eye observes the observer.

Certain aspects of the animation do not work properly and some aspects I am not happy with. For instance, the computer display animation is not clear enough, it requires more contrast and would benefit from a higher resolution, which would be difficult as it is on the highest resolution the program can achieve.The two axial wobbles mentioned in the report need to be resolved. The reason this eccentric wobble occurs is because the animated flower assembly is tilted at an angle of 65 degrees to the world plane.

There must be an option on the program to stop this anomaly happening. Finally, with a little more time, I would have liked to include a tear drop falling from the eye during the animation sequence where the eye turns to view the observer. This, at the moment, is beyond my ability but with time it could be a possibility and would make the animation more interesting.